Violin.



No. 7l2,550. Patented Nov. 4, I902.

I. KRIWULKA &. P. E. HOLIMIUIST.

VIOLIN.

(Applicnion Hod Inn. 11, 1900.)

A TTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARTIN KRIWULKA AND PETER E. HOLMQUIST, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

VIOLIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 712,550, datedNovember 4, 1902.

Application filed January 11,1902. Serial No. 89,276. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, MARTIN KRIWULKA, a subject of the Emperor ofAustria-Hungary, and PETER E. HOLMQUIST, a subject of the King of Swedenand Norway, both residents of Philadelphia, in the county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Violins, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

Our invention relates to violins of all classes and to analogous bowinstruments.

The object of our invention is to provide means for exerting strain ortension on the body of the instrument, so that the necessity forfrequent tightening of the usual strings will not be apparent and theinstrument will not so readily lose its tension over night or after thelapse of any short interval of time, and at the same time to secure amore powerful, clear, and voluminous changeable resonance in tone andits equal distribution.

One advantage of our improved construction resides in a comparativefreedom from warping due to atmospheric changes.

Another advantage is that the resonancestring can be tuned to anydesired height, so as to secure the desired tones and pitch to bring theinstrument into harmony with a comet or other wind instrument, or theresonance-string can be toned down from a high pitch to suit any desiredtone between wooden or metallic tones.

WVith these ends in view our invention consists in the novelconstruction, arrangement, and adaptation of parts comprising animproved violin or analogous instrument, as will be hereinafter fullydescribed and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation through our improved instrument, theplane of the section being taken centrally through the instrument. Fig.2 is an enlarged cross-section taken through the neck and thefingerboard of the instrument, illustrating thevchanges which arenecessary in the construction of an ordinary violin to embody ourimprovements therein. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the head,

showing the supplemental peg which is provided for the accommodation ofthe resonancestring, also illustrating the key for the adjustment ofsaid peg.

The body A, the neck B, the finger-board O, and the string-holder D aresimilar in all substantial respects to ordinary violins. As is usual inthe art, the body consists of the bottom a, the top a, and the front andrear end pieces a ('1 all of which are joined together in any approvedway. The neck B is united to the front end a of the body, and itterminates in the head E, the same being equipped with the usual numberof keys 6. The string-holder D is attached in any usual way to the knobd on the rear end a of the body, and to this string-holder is fastenedthe series of strings F, which lead over the bridge G and thefinger-board C, said strings being attached individually to the keys 6.

The instrument as thus far described is similar to ordinary violins, andwe will now proceed to describe our improvements by which we are able tosecure the advantages hereinbefore mentioned.

The leading feature of our invention consists in the employment of aresonance-string, (indicated at 5,) said string extendinglongitudinallythrough the sound-chamber of the bodyAand also extendinglengthwisebeneath the string-holder, through the bridge, beneath the finger-board,and attached at one end to the head of the neck, the other end of saidresonance-string being secured in or to the body, whereby theresonance-string has two lengths arranged below and above a soundboard,which is formed by the top a of the body.

In carrying our invention into practice we employ the sound-posts 67,which are disposed within the sound-chamber of the body and engagewith the bottom and the top,respectively, of saidbody. The two posts arearranged in spaced relation, and they extend from opposite sides of thebody, as shown by Fig. 1. The post 6 rests upon or is attached to thebottom a, and in its'upper-free end said post is formed with a notch orother passage-way for the accommodation of the resonance-string. Theother post 7 is attached to or bears against the top a, and its lowerend is formed with a I post 6 and the lower end of the post 7.

notch or other passage-way for the resonancestring. We prefer to employsound-posts which are of such length that they extend beyond the medianline of the sound-chamber, thus making the inner ends of the postsoverlap a line drawn centrally through the chamber. 8 designates ametallic bushing, which is secured firmly in the rear end a of the body,said bushing having an eye or passage which enables the resonance-string5 to pass freely through said bushing.

The bridge G of the instrument is provided below the usualstring-notches with an aperture 9, the same allowing theresonance-string 5 to pass freely through said bridge without hindrancefrom or engagement with the ordinary strings of the instrument.

The neck Bis provided with a longitudinal groove or channel 10, the samebeing formed centrally in the neck and arranged to open through lheupper face thereof, as shown more clearly by Fig. 2. This neckisfur'ther provided at a point near the head E with a transverse groove,which is adapted to receive a metallic bridge 11, reference being had toFig. 1 and to dotted lines in Fig. 2.

In addition to providing the series of tuning pins or keys 6 in the headof the instrument we provide a supplemental metallic peg 12, the samebeing preferably located in the rear of the tuning-keys, as shown byFig. 1. This pegis rotatably mounted in the head, and at one end it isprovided with an enlargement or disk 13, said enlargement having sockets14, adapted to receive the projections on the key 15, reference beinghad to Fig. 3.

The resonance-string 5 may be attached to the end piece a of the body orto the neck B by any suitable or preferred means, and in Fig. 1 we haveshownone means for firmly securing said end of the string in place. Asocket or cavity 16 is formed in the body or the neck to receive theheaded end 17 of the resonance-string; but any equivalent means for thismode of securing the string may be adopted. The resonance-string havingone end secured at 17 to the body is carried longitudinally through thesound-chamber, so as to engage with the upper end of the Thisresonance-string is carried out of the soundchamber through the eye inthe bushing 8, and from thence the string 5 is led up over thestring-holder knob 61, beneath the stringholder D, through theperforation 9 in the bridge G, beneath the finger-board 0, through thechannel 10 in the neck, over and in contact with the metallic bridge 11,and, finally, its other end is secured firmly to the metallic peg 12.Any desired means may be substituted for this peg in order to providefor placing the resonance-string under tension.

If desired, the sound-post 7 may be made of wood or of metal; but as arule we prefer tomake the sound-post 6 of wood.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with. the drawings,it will be seen that the peg 12 may easily be adjusted by means of thekey 15 in order to coil or wind the resonance-string thereon, therebystraining the resonance-string and making it bind or draw the severalparts of the instrument firmly together, whereby the instrument will bereinforced'or strengthened, so as to minimize the tendency to warp orstrain under at mospheric changes, and at the same time the tension ofthe usual strings will not be so liable to change over night or afterthe lapse of any short interval of time. By extending the string so thatone length thereof will pass through the sound-chamber and supportingsaid length of the string by posts within said sound-chamber we areableto secure a clearer and more voluminous changeable resonance and toalso attain a more equable distribution of the musical tones.

After the metallic bridge ll shall have been located in the neck B theresonance-string may be easily and quickly adjusted to the instrument.sections, a short length from the string-holder to the old bridge and alonger length from the old bridge 9 to the new bridge 11. These twoparts or lengths of the string are of different pitch, due to the ratioof the lengths or parts of the string.

Although we have shown and described our invention as specificallyembodied in a violin of one class, it will be evident that the im- Thisstring 5 is in two lengths or provements may be applied to differentclasses of violins and that the gist of our invention may also beavailed of in the construction of analogous instruments.

Although we have shown and described the violin as having a singleresonance or binding string, we do not desire to confine ourselves tothe use of only one string, because it is evident that the string may beduplicated or a dummy string may be used in addition to theresonance-string.

' In case it is desired to use more than one string the additionalstring or strings are arranged alongside of the resonance-string. If oneof the strings is to be a dummy or silent string, its employment tendsto still further brace and strengthen the instrument in a longitudinaldirection.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent .1. In an instrument of theclass described, aresonance-string having one length thereof extending through thesound-chamber of the instrument and another length arranged over thesound-board of said instrument.

2. In an instrument of the class described, a resonance-string extendingthrough the sound-chamber and over the sound-board thereof, one end ofsaid resonance-string being fastened to the body and the other end beingconnected with a suitable tension device.

3. In an instrument of the class described,

the combination of posts located within a sound-chamber and aresonance-string attached to the body of the instrument, and engagingwith said posts and having a length which is carried over thesound-board and attached to a suitable tension device.

4. In an instrumentof the class described, the combination ofsound-posts projecting in opposite directions from opposite sides of asound-chamber, the inner ends of said posts being carried beyond a linedrawn centrally through the chamber, in combination with aresonance-string stretched through the soundchamber and engaging withsaid inner ends of the posts.

5. In an instrument of the class described, the combination with asound-chamber, and a sound-board, of a. bushing in one end of thesound-chamber, a post in said chamber, a resonance-string stretched overthe post and through the bushing and having one end carried over thesound-board, and a suitable tension device.

6. An instrument of the class described, having a grooved neck below theusual fingerboard, and a resonance string stretched through thesound-chamber of the body and carried over the sound-board and throughthe grooved neck, said string being also connected with a suitabletension device.

7. An instrument of the class described, provided with a grooved neckand with a metallic bridge which intersects said groove in theneck,aresonance-stringstretched through the sound-chamber and throughthe grooved neck to engage with said bridge, and a suitable tensiondevice engaging with said string.

8. An instrument of the class described comprising a body, a neckterminating in a head, a bridge having a perforation below thestring-seats,a string having onelength thereof stretched through saidperforation of the bridge, and the other length of said string beingstretched through a sound-chamber of the body, one end of the stringbeing attached to the body and the other end being connected to atension device which is mounted in the head of the instrument.

9. An instrument of the class described, having posts within thesoundchamber thereof, a bushing at one end of the body, a bridge havinga string perforation below the usual string-seats, a grooved neck, ametallic bridge on said neck, a peg adjacent to said bridge, and astring attached at one end to the body and at its other end to said peg,said string beingarranged in engagement with said posts extendingthrough the bushing and the perforation of the string-bridge, and thegroove of the neck, and adapted to rest on the metallic bridge.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses. I

MARTIN KRIWULKA, PETER E. HOLMQUIST. Witnesses:

H. H. SINNAMON, J om: HAMMOND.

